Becky Cox and Pam Major from the Aha! Artful Healing Academy in St. George spoke at the Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery Tuesday afternoon on the power of art therapy.

Art therapy is the therapeutic use of art making Major said. It can be used to deal with a traumatic event, stress.

“It’s a way to take what’s hard to say and put it out there,” Major said.

Cox said her aha! Moment with art therapy was on a camping trip with troubled youth. The youth all had binders with a sleeve for a picture on the front cover so she instructed the youth to draw something so everyone would know it was theirs. It was while they drew that she realized what they were drawing was representative of their selves.

To help prove her point Cox passed around a basket full of various shells and pebbles and asked everyone to pick one. Once the crowd had one she explained how even the object picked out of the basket was representative of the person who chose it. Cox then called out guests to explain how their objects were like them.

“I could give you anything and you could make a metaphor out of it,” she said.

Cox also showed several drawings done by people who attend art therapy classes in St. George. One depicted half a human body that was very straight and rigid. Instead of mirroring the rigid half of the body the other half was curled up in the fetal position. Cox explained the person who drew this was feeling an imbalance in their life.

She also showed another one that showed a mess of color and shapes across the chest region, which Cox interpreted as possible confusion or pain.

“Art therapy is not always a masterpiece,” Cox said. “Sometimes it’s just art.”

The art academy offers a variety of classes. For more information visit the academy’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ArtfulHealingAcademy or email Cox at aha.becky@gmail.com or Major at ahapatm@gmail.com.